My literary life would not have been possible without the generosity and patience of many friends. Among them I’d like to thank Mike Allen, Cassandra Khaw, Lavie Tidhar, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Sean Wallace, Jason Sizemore, Troy L. Wiggins, Andrea Johnson, Steve Berman, Miguel Flores, Vajra Chandrasekera, Emily Wagner and Sioban Krzywicki, to name but a few: it is a long list, and sometimes kindness catches me by surprise. Zoe Stavri, Aaminah Khan and Ana Mardoll have inspired and will always inspire me. The courage of Sam Ambreen and Bex Gerber has been a balm in difficult times and I greatly look up to their strength and their empathy.
This book is dedicated to dreamers in the margins, and that includes all of you. Thank you.
J. Moufawad-Paul
This book has to be the most interesting project I’ve worked on to date since it has brought together two of my long-standing interests: political philosophy and SFF literature. I have always found respite in good SFF novels and stories, most recently those by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, and thus collaborating on this project was thoroughly enjoyable.
Therefore, first and foremost, I must thank Benjanun for being willing to collaborate with me on this project. I have a deep respect for Bee’s literary output and it was exciting to not only engage with her work but explore the ways in which she was engaging with mine. Methods Devour Themselves was the culmination of a much longer conversation we’ve had in Twitter’s direct messages; despite all the negative aspects of social media this book would not have been possible without a technology that could create a relationship between people separated by vast distance. When we first discussed the possibility of this extended and formalized conversation I worried that it was better in theory than practice but I think I can say with confidence that the final product has closed the theory-practice gap. Her skill as a writer as well as her concern for theoretical detail pushed me to think through problematics I had never coherently considered. I already miss the process of writing this book but I know the conversation will continue. Indeed, even before this book was conceived, I used aspects of one of her stories as an analogical device for another manuscript and thus, when that book is published, echoes of Methods Devour Themselves will persist. And I believe that we will continue our informal conversation into the foreseeable future. Maybe some day we’ll meet face to face, instead of through the disembodiment of Twitter, though it’s definitely not necessary: the relationship is real no matter what.
Secondly, I should thank Jessica Copley and the Revolutionary Time Symposium held at the University of Toronto on March 25th 2017. I used the opportunity of being an invited speaker to present an early draft of my “Debris and Dead Skin” essay because it both fit the symposium’s guidelines and gave me an opportunity to receive feedback necessary to develop it into a chapter. The symposium as a whole marked not only that chapter but, because my “Debris and Dead Skin” provoked Bee’s Krungthep is an Onomatopoeia, the way in which I thought through aspects of the developing conversation.
Next, since this is a book ostensibly concerned with the work of an SFF author, I would be remiss if I did not thank my fellow SFF geek friends. Ryan Toews immediately springs to mind: one of my oldest friends in Toronto who has also shared my appreciation for cutting edge SFF that politically matters. Also notable in this category is Allos Abis––a long time comrade and someone who has been key to my political development––who has pointed out the importance of SFF for people of colour, particularly “QT POC” who are part of the so-called “millennial” generation.
Fourthly, Doug Lain at Zer0 is owed a particular debt of gratitude. Interested in SFF and critical engagements with SFF he encouraged this unorthodox project when I mentioned its possibility. Zer0’s intention to pursue the kinds of projects that other presses might dismiss as “too niche” is laudable. I already owed Lain and Zer0 my thanks for taking a chance with Continuity and Rupture when other presses thought it was too “mad” (not my word but one used by someone else) to pursue and so I am grateful that they took this book on as well.
Fifthly, I am thankful that George Ciccariello-Maher agreed to endorse this book after reading an early and nearly complete draft. I was reading his excellent Decolonizing Dialectics around the time this project was first conceived and wrote a review of that book following my completion of the “Living in Amber” chapter. Although I did not cite his book in that chapter, in retrospect I believe it influenced my analysis. I recall a moment on Twitter, over a year ago, when I joked with George about writing “feisty blurbs” for radical books. I’m very grateful that he did not fulfil his promise to write a blurb composed mainly with emojis.
Finally, no acknowledgments are complete without thanking my life partner, Victoria Moufawad-Paul, for her support and influence. Vicky and I consistently edit each other’s work and encourage our respective trajectories. This book in particular is one I know that Vicky really thought worth pursuing since it intersected with many of her concerns in the cultural sphere. It’s really great to be in a creative relationship where both partners influence and encourage one another.
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